I researched Dubai and the UAE for a month before I finally went but, still, I didn’t really know what to expect. I knew a bit about the place’s history and culture but you can’t tell how you’re going to feel about a place by reading about it on Wikipedia.
On the flight here from Hong Kong I had momentary panic attacks. It was dark and quiet in the airplane cabin and it made me feel lonely and scared. A million thoughts were racing through my head.
Will I like the place? Will I be happy there? What does my future there have in store for me?
It was then as I stared out the window that the sun began to rise. Those first few red rays against the soft blue and black sky reflected on the Indian Ocean was enough to soothe my anxiousness. I then remembered this passage of scripture:
See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:28-34)
As the sun rose higher and I first glimpsed the sand dunes of the Middle East I was filled with assurance that everything would be all right. The barren expanse of desert was very strange to me, a stark contrast to Southeast Asia, where almost everywhere you go there is an abundance of greenery. But I smiled at the newness and unfamiliarity of it all. And I saw beauty in the emptiness of the sands, it was reminiscent of an empty slate, a blank page.
Then I saw it…Dubai! It was from high above, the bustling desert metropolis only just waking at dawn – my new home.
Whatever this place has in store for me, I’m ready for it.
